Help locating my great-grandfather, Joseph A. Souvigny
I have been searching for my great-grandfather's birth information in Luxembourg and family for many months now, but I have not been able to find anything specific to him. His information is:
Joseph Souvigny
b. 1 Nov 1870 (or 1871) in Lux, Lux
d. 14 May 1937 Chi, Ill
Married Hedwig "Hattie" Janke 27 Sep 1902 in Chi, Ill
Lived in Luxembourg before immigrating from Antwerp, Belgium to NY, NY in Oct 1887. Moved to Ill in Nov 1901.
According to US census records, his Mother was from Germany, and his Father was in 1910: from Germany, in 1920: from France, and in 1930: from Germany.
I've searched all the Family Search online records for Lux, Lux, and other primary locations for this family, but cannot find his birth record. I've also created a Souvigny/Souvignier/Sauvignier tree that currently contains 511 people hoping to find him that way, but have yet to be successful.
Does anyone happen to have him in their tree, or have other suggestions of where to search?
Thank you!
Cori
Answers
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There was a Joseph Grunig who was born on the 1st of November 1870. Maybe he changed his last name at some point. Do you happen to know the names of his parents?
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Unfortunately I do not know the name of his parents, that's the end of my short line! I have noted though, that he has some records that say Joseph A. Souvigny, but his son was named Joseph G. Souvigny Jr., so he could have had a G as a middle initial, vice an A. Yesterday I went through more records in Luxembourg, Belgium (ie Attert, Habay-La-Neuve) and found more Souvigny's and Souvenay's, but no luck yet on a Joseph!
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Where was this Joseph Grunig born?
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He was born in Luxembourg, Luxembourg.
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:S3HT-6LF4-H43?i=1252&cc=1709358&cat=237455
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How sure are you of his place of birth? There is a Joseph Souvigny who was born on 1 november 1870 in Ettelbruck. "Luxembourg, Registres d'état civil, 1796-1941," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:S3HT-6F69-ZB7?cc=1709358&wc=9RY3-YWL:129625001,130374201 : 17 July 2014), Ettelbruck > Naissances 1839-1884 > image 1066 of 1493; Archives nationales de Luxembourg (National Archives), Luxembourg. I found this by searching Luxroots.com. A site you should really consider becoming a member of if you are researching your Luxembourg ancestors.
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On Luxroots.com they also connect this birth with a death in Chicago on 14 May 1937. The birth was reported by Claude Muller, the director at the hospital. I am not a hundred percent sure but he may have been the child of a unmarried mother ??? Elisabethe Souvigny, 25 years old.
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That is him!!!! Oh I am sooo excited!! I have been looking for so long.... I was thinking of joining Luxroots.com, now I definitely will! Thank you so much Kristine!
Cori
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Also...looking at my notes, I had tried to search the Ettelbruck records because there are many Souvigny's there, but the link was not working!
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FamkilySearch has not yet indexed many of the Luxembourg civil registration records. Which is why Luxroots is a great investment. They are also helpful because they usually have extracted the most pertinent information from those hard to read German records.
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I just signed up for Luxroots! From what I can see with my little German, you are correct about it just listing a "girl" as his mother, vice listing a father and mother. My son is taking German 4 in high school, I tried to have him read it, but he couldn't read cursive! Sad...he was in the middle of talking to his German teacher though, so I sent it to her!
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This tool can be helpful with reading the script. https://stevemorse.org/german/germanprintcurs.html
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Why don't you post your German documents to the German group in this community site?
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That would be wonderful if you could help translate!
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Its input #85 for Joseph Souvigny
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Only a suggestion, but as the entry is in German,it would rather be presented in the German group,altough only language related..
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Have you tried the Wiki links for this area?
Political boundaries changed a lot in that area between 1900 and 1940. It may help to check in adjoining countries where your grandfather was listed as being from on the US census. Sometimes parent's birthplace changed with the political pulse of the time too. At that time in US history it was not easy to be from Germany, so maybe France was used. If he was born in a border town his birthplace could be Alsace-Lorraine. You have a lot of information to go on. I hope you find them.
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Thanks! Someone else in the group found his birth records using LuxRoots...he was born in Ettelbruke! Unfortunately, it only lists his mother's name, since I believe she was unwed and he took her name.
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